


Beside

by LouTheStarSpeaker



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Brotherly Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouTheStarSpeaker/pseuds/LouTheStarSpeaker
Summary: Sometimes there are things you can't avoid or escape, no matter how badly you want to, and you just grit your teeth and learn to be okay with "never the same again." But if Destiny is being especially cruel, sometimes you watch from the sidelines as a brother grits his teeth, and hope that being beside him is enough to get him through. - Episode Tag to S2 Ep5 "Child's Play"
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because there is NO way this episode didn't have some emotional impact. Since it was kind of skipped over in the how, here's the aftermath of Child's Play. 
> 
> *Cross posted from FF.Net, I'm moving my works over :)

The night Lloyd defeated the Grundle, they’d returned to the Bounty with their heads spinning, trying their best to process every crazy thing that had happened to them that day, then inevitably collapsing into bed so they could try again tomorrow. 

Only Kai’s brain hadn’t really gotten the message, and kept churning up dreams with too many man-eating monsters and tiny, bite-sized ninja for him to get any semblance of sleep.

He should’ve just taken that Nighty-Night Tea like everyone else when Sensei’d offered it to them earlier. Hopefully, there was some still left on the stove. Kai  _ really _ didn’t feel like reliving being hunted by a prehistoric death machine every time he closed his eyes.

He crept out of the guys’ room, ninja skills to the max as he passed by Nya’s room and then Lloyd’s, aka the lightest sleepers he ever met. But at Sensei’s door he hesitated for a moment- did he hear something?- before stopping in his tracks, his heart clenching painfully. Yes, he definitely heard it that time.

It was Lloyd, crying- sobbing really- and Sensei’s voice speaking softly. 

Kai stood there for a full minute in silence, wrestling between a wild, barely suppressed anger at Grundles and Garmadon and Destiny itself, and the engraved instinct to go in there and  _ fix this, somehow. _

But Kai didn’t attempt to wage war on an omnipotent force, nor did he burst into Sensei’s room and drag Lloyd into a hug. Instead he walked away, towards the kitchen and the tea, even quieter than before.

This was different from when Kai and Nya had been on their own, he wasn’t responsible for fixing every problem his younger sibling had, no matter how much it felt like he  _ should _ . Lloyd had the other guys too, and Nya even, and he had Sensei Wu, who was probably much better at this anyway.

Kai sighed as he entered the kitchen, padding over to the stove and giving the kettle a quick shake. There was enough in there, but it’d gotten cold. He turned on the stove, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter while he waited for it to reheat. He’d stood in this exact position a couple hours earlier, only then he’d been surrounded by his friends and his Sensei. 

“Help him adjust.” Sensei Wu had said after he’d sent Lloyd to bed, like the child he was but didn’t look like. 

It was a request that felt as impossible now as it did then. What was normal when you didn’t even know how many candles belonged on your birthday cake anymore? 

When Kai had… changed, his body hadn’t felt like his anymore. His skin felt stretched too tight and his thoughts felt like someone else’s. Getting used to it hadn’t even been on the table for him. He’d wanted it  _ gone _ .

But that wasn’t an option for Lloyd, because whatever idiot had created Tomorrow’s Tea in the first place (looking at  _ you _ , Mystaké), hadn’t had the two brain cells it took to realize that  _ Yesterday’s _ Tea might be helpful too.

The kettle was fizzing, about to boil, and the sound got under Kai’s skin. He switched off the gas with an angry turn of the knob and more force than he needed. What could any of them really even _do?_

Kai tore a hand through his hair, glaring at the tea kettle as it quieted, then sighed and deflated. He could make Lloyd a cup of tea.

Kai poured in more water and turned the kettle on again. The tea would be a little weak with the extra water, but there was no way Kai was about to go snooping through Sensei’s tea cabinet after what happened today.

After the kettle whistled and Kai poured the cups, he moved quietly back down the halls, intent on leaving Lloyd’s in his bedroom. But as he was coming up on Sensei’s room, the door creaked open and Lloyd wandered out, pace slow and posture weary.

He was wearing some of Jay’s old pajamas. They fit him pretty well, but the geeky science pun on the t-shirt made it pretty obvious it wasn’t his. Apart from the green gi, which had always been too big, none of Lloyd’s clothes fit him anymore.

“Uh- Kai!” He stammered, startling at the sight of him. “I, um, what- what are you doing up?”

“Just… couldn’t sleep.” Kai said, pretending he was as surprised to see Lloyd as Lloyd was to see him. Also pretending he didn’t notice how puffy Lloyds’s eyes were. Kai gestured vaguely with the cups in his hand. “I made tea. You want some?”

Lloyd relaxed a bit, taking the offered cup. “Yeah, thanks.”

The two walked together down the hall, but when they reached their bedrooms, Kai wasn’t surprised to see Lloyd hesitate outside his door. 

Yeah. This wasn’t the kind of night Kai wanted to be alone on either. He caught Lloyd’s eye, and gestured with his head towards his own room. Lloyd smiled at the wordless invitation, following gratefully.

Kai’s bed was on the top bunk, and it was a bit of a balancing act to scramble up there with boiling, but they managed, spilling only a little. 

“I’ll clean it up in the morning.” Kai offered, only a little reluctantly. The least he could do is not leave Lloyd to clean up a mess the morning after what had to be one of the worst days of his life.

They sat sideways on the bed, their backs against the wall and tea cups in their laps. Lloyd had tried to stretch his legs out, but folded them back in when he realized they were too long. This morning they hadn’t been. 

The two sipped tentatively at their tea. Kai had forgotten to bring the spoons and it was taking forever to cool.

“So, were you just gonna drink both?” Lloyd asked suddenly, looking up at Kai.

Kai’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Both cups of tea?”

“Yeah, I mean, you looked surprised to see me earlier. Why’d you made two if you didn’t know I was awake?”

Kai fumbled a bit, grasping for an answer that wouldn’t embarrass Lloyd. He doubted the kid would want him to know  _ exactly _ why he was in his uncle’s room. Not that it should’ve mattered. When you get aged up four-ish years you’re allowed to cry about it. 

“Well I, uh, I knew you didn’t have any tea earlier either, you know when Sensei offered. Since I wasn’t sleeping I figured you weren’t either. I just thought you’d be in your own room.”

Lloyd nodded slowly, sighing. “I needed to talk to Uncle Wu, about, well-” He gestured vaguely at everything, which was kind of an understatement. FSM, today had been a mess.

“I get it.” Kai said, turning his head from the floating steam and looking directly at Lloyd. “No expects you to shrug everything off, you know.”

Lloyd stared at his tea, looking sadder than Kai had ever remembered seeing him, blowing at it and watching the surface ripple. “Yeah.”

That irrational anger at the world welled up in Kai again. He wished there was something he could  _ do. _

Lloyd was someone he would run through fire for, powers or not. But there were no snakes or skeletons to smack down, no evil dark lord to protect him from. This wasn’t something Kai could fight, and there were no reassurances for a situation like this, no “it’ll be okay, I’ve been through it too.”

What was happening to Lloyd was unprecedented, and something told Kai that with a prophecy hanging over all their heads this would only be the first time. He could only be there, and hope that was enough.

Huh. Be there… 

“Hey… ” Kai said slowly, an idea taking shape. “Hey, what if we moved you in here?”

“Huh?” Lloyd looked up confused, as if Kai’d been talking about a different “here”. “Like, sleep in here?”

“Yeah, all the ninja in one room? It’d be cool!”

Lloyd smiled at the idea, but glanced around skeptically. “Where would you even  _ put _ me?”

Kai looked around. The kid had a point, with four already it was a little tight, but… “There’s room for a twin bed right there,” He said, pointing to the only empty corner. “And if we shove over some of Cole’s clothes we could make room in the closet for you.”

Lloyd gaped at him. “Really? You’re serious?”

Kai grinned at the look on his face. “Well, I mean, we can buy him some boxes or something for the rest of his stuff if it doesn’t all fit.” He joked, bumping Lloyd’s shoulder with his. When he was still met with Lloyd’s disbelieving stare Kai nodded, confirming once and for all. “Yes, Lloyd, I’m serious.”

The kid’s face split into a grin so wide Kai wondered why he hadn’t thought of this ages ago.

“ _ Cool. _ ”

They chatted about room plans, Lloyd going on about Starfararer posters and his collection of comics, saying that the guys needed to personalize. Which, admittedly, wasn’t wrong. 

Paint colors were brought up once, and neither of them had to tell the other that if they brought it up to the others Lloyd wouldn’t survive to the final battle.

“We could share?” Kai suggested maturely. It was just him and the pipsqueak, Kai could be mature.

But Lloyd shot down that idea with the simple fact that their two colors on their  _ own  _ would make their room look like a reject Christmas party, never mind the others’.

After a while, the conversation dwindled off into silence, the tea, weak though it was, taking affect. Lloyd’s head fell onto Kai’s shoulder, the drained teacup falling from his fingers. It wasn’t long before Kai followed suit, his own head resting against blonde hair. 

_ /Ninjago/ _

Lloyd was gone before Kai woke up the next morning. This alone was not a substantial fact; it was late, and everyone else was gone too. But along with Lloyd, the teacups were missing, and even the spill on the floor had been wiped up. There was no evidence he’d been there at all.

Kai wasn’t sure why, but he’d expected something to be different. So far, the only new thing he’d discovered was the crick in his back from sleeping weird.

Until, that is, he opened the closet door. 

Cole’s clothes were pushed to one side, and all the of hand-me-downs they’d given to Lloyd hung beside them. 


	2. Bonus Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a little bonus thingy that was supposed to be the ending for the main story, but it didn't fit right so it got cut... I still love it though, and I figured some of you might too, so there's no need for it to just sit and gather metaphorical dust on my drive. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Every Wish,  
> ~Lou

After that first night, Kai never caught Lloyd crying again, and he wasn’t sure if it was because Lloyd had stopped all together or if he’d just gotten better at hiding it. Neither of those options seemed particularly healthy to him, but if it was the first, he hoped it was because they were doing something right.

Since then, Kai had… shifted a bit. He kept a closer eye on Lloyd, helped him try to figure out his… growth spurt… as best he could. He wasn’t the only one, either. Where Lloyd was concerned, the same change was in the others too.

It was there in the way Cole reached out to steady him when he tripped over his too long legs, the nod after Lloyd thanked him saying “always.”

In the way Zane worked through the same forms with him again and again, helping him to relearn what he already knew.

In the way Jay so casually slung an arm around his shoulders, letting him know that no matter what had happened to him, he was  _ normal _ .

With simple gestures and actions they said over and over and over,

_ “I’m right behind you.” _

_ “I have faith in you.” _

_ “You’re one of us.” _

Kai wasn’t exactly sure what his own gestures were saying, but he had a feeling it was something like,  _ “I’m on your side.” _

Because when a kid like Lloyd saves your life with nothing but a bag of tea and a comic book quote… Well, that’s someone you never stop standing next to.


End file.
